As was reported in The Yorkshire Post, Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, and an MP for a part of Surrey, has scrapped plans to invest in electrifying the railway line linking Leeds and Manchester.

That means slow, diesel trains will continue to link two of the biggest cities in the north.

Before last month’s election Mr Grayling came to Yorkshire to insist that the Tories wouldn’t be scrapping their commitments to invest in the north. The Conservatives even launched their manifesto in Yorkshire. Of course, that was when they needed our votes. Now the election is out of the way, the Westminster Government is happy to go back to ignoring Yorkshire.

And what have the 17 Conservative MPs who supposedly represent Yorkshire had to say about this? As far as I can see, nothing.

I have a very simple challenge for those 17 Conservative MPs today: You were elected to represent Yorkshire constituencies. There are 17 of you. Stop putting your party first, and start standing up for Yorkshire. Tell Theresa May and Chris Grayling that you’ll no longer support a Government that is going to spend billions on Crossrail 2 in London but won’t even electrify a rail line linking the two biggest cities in the north.

Ten DUP MPs managed to secure £1bn extra for Northern Ireland. If you stop putting your party first and start standing up for Yorkshire, imagine what 17 of you could achieve for our schools, roads, hospitals and railways. If you don’t have that imagination, then you should step aside and let people who have do the job.

From: John Wildie, Sandal, Wakefield.

I AM against this Tory Government on their ridiculous statement on going ahead with HS2.

They are not even considering the upheaval and its going to upset a lot of people, by bulldozing their homes who have lived there for years. Not only that it will ruin a lot of nice countryside in Yorkshire and around the Crofton area, a lot of wildlife will also be affected.

When the high-speed rail was first introduced by this Government the cost was around £32bn, now at a ridiculous price of £55bn, and could even be more than £140bn.

It’s just for business people wishing to get to London quicker. It’s not a train for working-class people.

It would be more common sense if the money was spent upgrading some of our old stock, it would also create jobs for the unemployed. Or better still put all the money into the health service. Nobody has stated yet what the fare will be, ridiculous I say.

From: David Craggs, Goldthorpe, South Yorkshire.

Quite frankly I am puzzled. I have looked in vain for maps that show the route of HS2 through South and West Yorkshire, in The Yorkshire Post and the various local newspaper editions. Since the route through both Mexborough and Crofton is highly controversial, I’d have thought that the local press would have produced such maps to encourage discussion and comment. But no, the maps aren’t there.

When one finds such maps on the internet and zooms in to study the detail they become almost indecipherable. It’s as if there is a conspiracy to prevent us seeing the route and passing comment on it.

From: ME Wright, Harrogate.

It’s going to take yet another ten years to upgrade the Leeds public transport network.

It took about the same time to build London’s Crossrail 1, so at long last, Leeds will be entering the 21st century.

Or will she? The detail promises no such thing. The city’s recent and inept public transport history is set to continue along the same ‘down to a price, not up to a standard’ route.

The word ‘Metro’ conjures up images of the Paris tube or Manchester’s trams – both equally effective and efficient.

Could that confusing word please be replaced on the Leeds shelters with the drearily honest ‘bus stop’?

Focus on city’s outer areas

From: Alec Denton, Guiseley, West Yorkshire.

While I fully support Leeds’s bid to be City of Culture, I am concerned that the council tends to be very much focused on the City of Leeds, whereas in cultural terms the settlements surrounding Leeds have a very big contribution to make.

Leeds North West contains the former Urban Districts of Otley, Aireborough and Horsforth, all very lively culturally, with two substantial and many smaller choirs, four art clubs, numerous stage companies putting on shows in our several halls, a university and five large comprehensive schools with thriving cultural activities, three history societies, book clubs and other activities, both inside and outdoors, catering for the cultural needs of around 80,000 residents and complimented by large-scale activities in the city centre.

I am certain that all the other outer settlements are just as culturally aware and need to be included in Leeds bid.